


The Jock and the Nerd

by xserenity



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fills [9]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Book Club, Dick has terrible fashion, Dick is weird, First Love, Fluff and Angst, Jason is a jerk, M/M, Silly Crushes, Slow Burn, Sort Of, Stereotypes, he has Issues, slight bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2019-01-31 09:43:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12679299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xserenity/pseuds/xserenity
Summary: "There was always that one student that stuck out in every class. A student that was just a bit odd. There was certainly one in Jason’s class and he’d noticed the teen since the start of junior year, but had ignored him for the most part. But over the course of time, it became difficult to disregard him since he kind of stuck out like a sore thumb and he knew it wasn’t intentional. That was just how he was.Dick Grayson was that weirdo.And the thing was—he just—he didn’t know why but he sort of found himself becoming strangely interested in Dick."





	The Jock and the Nerd

**Author's Note:**

> Anon asked: "Prompt: High school AU! with Mr.-Popular-Jock-Jason Todd and Kind-of-a-weirdo-Dick Grayson. Please."

There was always that one student that stuck out in every class. A student that was just a bit odd. There was certainly one in Jason’s class and he’d noticed the teen since the start of junior year, but had ignored him for the most part. But over the course of time, it became difficult to disregard him since he kind of stuck out like a sore thumb and he knew it wasn’t intentional. That was just how he was.

Dick Grayson was _that_ weirdo and for some strange unexplained reason, Jason always found himself watching the teen. He was just so out there, so different than him that he had difficulty keeping his eyes off the teen. If he had to describe them, they were essentially different species, one being an athletic jock and the other being what Jason would describe as a _nerd_.

The teen had silky dark hair that curled at just the tip of his nape. His bangs were long, slightly parted to the side and fell just enough to cover his brows. He had perfect straight teeth, white and dazzling. Not to mention his bright blue eyes that seemed to glisten whenever he’d speak, his expression a constant glow.

It wasn’t like Dick was bad looking, he really wasn’t.  _Just_ , he sort of stood out a lot mainly because of his attire and the way he carried himself. So it was really two aspects that initially attracted Jason to the teen, set the bar for his impression of Dick. The teen was always god damn perky, consistently making small talk with everyone around him. He was a literal ball of sunshine and always wore a smile on his lips. And his clothes,  _fuck_ , his clothes were  _hideous._ He never matched, _ever_ , and he couldn’t color coordinate for the love of his life. Seriously, sometimes Jason thought he might be color blind because the colors of his outfit always contrast.

Dick tended to show up to class with vivid colored outfits which could also be a bit dorky. He often wore sweaters and cardigans, or shirts and a hoodie, and often times, if not all the time, the colors of his wardrobe were just  _so_  out there, extravagant. Not to mention the designs as well, with odd looking logos on his shirts that made no sense. At least his pants were simple enough, typically wearing jeans though sometimes he’d show up in haggard sweatpants and just _why?_

How could one be so terribly dressed? That confused the hell out of Jason and he just couldn’t understand what his issue was.

Like right now. He could clearly see the teen in his peripherals. Jason sat at the back of the class and Dick was a little off to his left, diagonal and up a row. He was currently dressed in light blue jeans, a hideous bright yellow sweater with a fish and a—is that pizza on his shirt?  _Oh wow_ , It was. Damn, it hurt his eyes to see. The color was offending and it blinded him. He wished he could just ask Dick to change.

It’s not like he could look away either since the teen was directly in his line of vision.

The one other thing Jason found weird about Dick was that he often liked to answer the teacher’s questions. In a sense, he was at least fairly smart which was a good thing, but the fact that he kept volunteering himself made him appear as a teacher’s pet. Honestly, it was annoying and Jason wished he would just shut up.

But no, he always had to blab his mouth, run it till it tired. If he even got tired of talking.

Jason typically went out of his way to avoid the teen, never made eye contact or conversation with him. He didn’t want his reputation as football captain being tarnished. Nope, not by hanging out with Dick Grayson the weirdo, which is what his team called him as well as a few others who also thought he was an oddball.

Thankfully he was only a classmate and Jason didn’t have to communicate with unless prompted.

The thing was—he just—he didn’t know  _why_  but he sort of found himself becoming strangely interested in Dick. There was just something pulling him in that he couldn't ignore no matter how hard he tried.

\-----

Jason ventured to the library one day after school was over, wanting to check out a book. Despite his appearance and his status of being a popular high school football player, he did like to read and enjoyed it immensely. He’d often spend time searching for interesting titles and renting them from the school library or the public library. Though he often kept that fact hidden from others for fear of being judged so he tended to sneak around when he wouldn’t be noticed. It would ruin his athletic and bad boy image.

While he was busy browsing through the mystery isle, searching for a story that would capture his interest, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him. One he’d often hear during class, but one that wasn’t never exactly directed at him.

Jason paused as he was about to pull a book out from the shelf. Slowly, he turned his head to face his guest and found a slightly shorter teen with vivid blue eyes staring straight at him. This wasn’t exactly a face he wanted to encounter.

“Jason!” Dick  _fucking_  Grayson was talking to him and  _god_ , his outfit was also terrible today. He was sporting a vertical striped shirt of mustard green and yellow with a dark red cardigan on top. He freaking looked like the condiments of a hot dog and to add a finishing touch, he was wearing glasses. Like, those  _thick rimmed glasses_  and it just looked—looked very cu— _ugly_ on him.

Why was he wearing glasses when he typically didn’t during class? Well he did a few times.

Dick must have read his mind or saw that he was oddly focused and staring at his face and made a comment.

“I mainly wear them when I need to read,” Dick said and pushed up the middle of his frames with a finger as they were slipping down his nose. “Um—“ he then started, fidgeting with the book he held in hand by flipping the hard cover up and down. “What are you doing here?” he asked and Jason supposed it was odd to find him in the library. He typically liked to go when no one was around to see him.

“I—“ Jason said and paused for a moment as he tried to think up an excuse to use. He didn’t want to exactly out himself for being into reading. Not that he thought it was a bad thing, but he didn’t want to subject himself to being a topic of conversation and being judged for not adhering to his ‘image.’ “I was looking for a book for English.”

“Oh,” Dick said and his eyes brightened. They didn’t share the same English class, and actually only had two classes together, Math and Chemistry, so it’s not like he knew what Jason was using it for. “Do you need help finding one?”

Why was he offering to help when Jason had barely talked to him before?

“Uh, no,” Jason replied. “I’m good.”

The smile on his face faded just a bit, seemed a little upset at the rejection but he shrugged his shoulders. “Okay. If you need help you can ask me.”

“Sure,” Jason said and glanced around the room so his attention wasn’t on Dick. He was attempting to avoid looking at him in hopes that he would get the hint and leave, but he didn’t. Dick just stood there and Jason could just feel his gaze on him, felt like he was burning a hole with his nonexistent eye vision.

“Uh,  _so_ ,” Jason started, feeling a bit awkward. Maybe he could just ask a few questions and then attempt to fend him off. “What are you doing here?” He asked, redirecting the question back at Dick.

“I run book club,” Dick said and Jason immediately flickered his eyes back to the teen, settled on his gleeful expression as he beamed brightly.

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Dick murmured and the color of his cheeks glowed a bright pink. He shuffled on his feet, rolled back and forth on the tip of his heels. “It’s every Thursday after school. It’s mainly club members who show up but um, it’s open to all.” That last sentence hung in the air, hovering around the two and seemed to imply if Jason was interested, he was welcome to come though he wasn’t straightforwardly inviting him.

“I see,” Jason replied, unsure of what else to say about that. For being someone who was involved in the school, mainly sports though, he wasn’t aware that they had a book club. He knew about other clubs, but not one that was actually one of his interests.

Jason sort of wanted to see what book club was like.

Again, as if Dick could just read his every expression, he added on a few more information. Almost could sense that Jason was interested. “It runs about an hour long and we typically vote on a book, read it and then have a discussion about it.”

That did sound appealing and something that Jason would like to partake in since he didn’t really have anyone else to discuss books with. His friends didn’t read, found that it was lame and would rather just watch TV, movies or hang out and video game.

Jason didn’t breathe a word of his thoughts and just smiled small at Dick who seemed to be glowing with elation.

“It’s  _really_  fun,” he added, quite animated as he started making hand gestures. “We have game days too where we play trivia. It’s a way to test who remembers what details well enough. We give out kudos and prizes sometimes too!”

And then when Jason said nothing yet again, Dick pressed a little more, growing impatient. “I mean, I’m not—I’m not pressuring you or anything! It’s just—I mean, I thought it might be, I don’t know? Interesting. Um, I enjoy it so I just—“ Dick was stuttering and fidgeting heavily with the hem of his shirt as he tugged and pulled, was also swiping his bangs from left to right like a frantic teen. Well, he was a teen, just currently very anxious and maybe Jason should say something and not ignore him. He knew he was making Dick nervous and he felt a little bad so he held up a hand and stopped Dick in his track. 

“I get it,” he said sharply and caused the teen to jolt back in surprise, vivid blue eyes blinking at him in offense, that he’d done something wrong to rouse the jock. Jason huffed a breath and swiped a hand through his hair, rubbing at the back of his head bashfully. He maybe should have toned done his irritation just a bit. “I mean I get it. I’m not really interested, but maybe—“ he said and saw how Dick’s eyes suddenly brightened up once again, going from a kicked puppy to an energetic one. “I might come check it out.”

“Yeah?” Dick asked in awe, his smile returning and  _geez_ , it was alluring. Kind of cu— _no._  That’s not what he thought him, just  _no._  Jason quickly shook himself out of his thoughts and returned his immediate attention back to Dick.

“Yeah, I don’t know when.”

“Oh, anytime is fine! We’re not going anywhere,” Dick exclaimed and slipped the book that he’d been holding between his arm pits. “Just pop in whenever.”

“Sure,” Jason said and then took a step back, ready to skedaddle away, but felt a little awkward for doing so. Luckily for him, he was saved when a redhead, who he knew was Dick’s friend came up beside him. They shared Math together and he was sure his name was Wally West or something.

“Hey Dick, ready to start?” The ginger prompted and quickly side eyed Jason, emerald eyes squinting at him skeptically. Jason just raised a brow and gave him a look, wasn’t sure why he was glaring at him because he was positive that the teen was glaring.

“Yeah, I’m ready. Everyone here?” Dick asked and Wally nodded, placing his gaze on Dick, giving him his full attention as he responded before returning his glare back at Jason.

Jason stood there still as a statue, gazing back at the ginger in wonder. What the hell was his problem?

“Yep, we’re good to go,” Wally said and curled his fingers around Dick’s bicep, giving him a tug towards the opposite direction of where Jason was about to go.

“Okay, just one second,” Dick said and swirled on his heel to face Jason. He was about to take a step forward, but his friend still had his hand on him, so Dick reluctantly stayed glued to his spot.

“See you tomorrow Jason!” Dick called cheerfully and waved at him.

“Yeah…” Jason replied, not to be rude and returned a lazy wave. “Tomorrow.”

And then off he went, whisked away by the ginger who was still throwing him glares.

 _Why the fuck?_  Jason didn’t understand what the hell he’d done to offend the redheaded teen since he rarely talked to him. Didn’t even know who he really was in the first place, but he shrugged it off as it wasn’t a huge problem to him.

Jason returned to his original task and attempted to successfully choose a book while secretly listening to the conversation being led by Dick. His voice was soft and soothing and he was actually pretty good at leading the discussion, getting everyone to participate. He’d often peek through the shelf holes to spy on the session though he didn’t have a really good view.

But at least the discussion they had seemed insightful, almost sounded fun, and he might have been just a bit interested after listening in.

Maybe he’ll  _sneak_  in one of these Thursdays.

\-----

The next day during class, Jason was worried that Dick might try to strike up a conversation with him because they talked yesterday in the library. To his surprise, he didn’t and that was a bit of a relief since he wasn’t sure how he would have dealt with that. He didn’t want to be caught talking to the class nerd.

And yet, Jason felt a little upset that it didn’t happen, felt like he’d actually connected with Dick for a moment, as awkward as it was. 

It was also strange that Dick didn’t approach him considering he seemed to be the type. He supposed he was being courteous and giving him space. 

And again, he was wearing a mismatching outfit. Seriously, who dressed him?  _Actually_ , who allowed him to leave the house looking like that? Whoever it was needed to get their eyes checked.

Dick was sporting dark wash jeans today and a forest green gradient cotton sweater with the face of a cat plastered in the middle. His hair was a wild mess, sticking up all around his head, almost as if he’d just woken up out of bed. Maybe he did and was late, didn’t have enough time to fix himself up.

The clothes today were tame compared to other days, but his hair agitated Jason. He could feel his fingers tingling with the need to brush it, flatten all those strands that were sticking up. God damn, it was bothering him a lot and he really wanted to walk up behind him during break and comb it all down.

But alas, he did not and let it fly.

When lunch rolled around, Jason spotted Dick sitting a table away from him while he was currently seated with his friends, the football team, chatting away about movie night that they had set up for the weekend. Roy Harper, his best friend and vice-captain was talking about inviting girls and Jason didn’t much care for that. He didn’t mind though so he let Roy do whatever the hell he wanted.

Currently, he was too preoccupied with Dick to really care about anything else. Watched as the teen sat with his little group of friends. The ginger was there today as well and he was joined by another ginger, a girl with gorgeous long hair and another girl with medium length jet black hair. He’d seen Dick with this particular group of people often and assumed that was his posse. 

Jason remembered seeing him with a few others as well and oh—there they were as they all filtered in and populated the table, filling it up. Jason watched as they chatted among each other with smiles plastered on their faces, laughing and giggling like they were having a damn good time.

Jason wondered what it was that they were talking about, a bit curious about the kind of conversations Dick and his friends had. He wasn’t sure what kind of interests Dick had besides books and weird clothes. Seriously, how did none of his friends tell him that he looked awful? Because if it was Jason, he would probably tell him he needed to change his outfit, but maybe they just didn’t care enough like Jason did.

He sighed heavily and turned his attention back to his table, listened to them talk about which girls they should invite. Honestly, Jason wasn’t too interested in the girl talk and never usually participated. Only dropped a comment here and there to show that he was at least paying attention.

Dick’s table seemed a bit more appealing at the moment but he couldn’t simply just join them. That would be weird. So he let it slide and started poking at his sandwich before he picked it up and took a bite.

Maybe he _will_  go to book club next Thursday.

\-----

Next Thursday arrived and Jason did what he said he would do — show up at the library. He made sure to arrive a little later after the session had started so he wouldn’t have to deal with all the introductions and all that crap. He slipped in from behind and hovered in the back of the room, watching Dick from afar. 

Dick was at the center stage, at the front of the audience sitting down in a chair. The rest were turned, facing him and the seats were set up in rows, curling just slightly at the edges so it formed a half circle, a way to include everyone and make it more uniform.

The raven haired teen was holding up a book and opened the floor to anyone who wanted to speak. The students would raise their hand and he’d select them, giving each and every one a turn to speak and whoever wanted to jump in could do so.

Jason surprisingly stayed for the entire session, really interested in the book they were discussing. And every so often, he found his eyes meeting Dick’s. Vivid blue eyes would stare at him briefly for just a few seconds before he’d settle them back on his audience.

An hour passed by quickly and everyone had packed up and left the library, even his ginger friend who tossed him a dirty glare as he was leaving.

That was still a mystery to him.

Dick was the last to leave, had his bag slung on his shoulders, snapping the front of the straps to keep it secured on his back.

Jason didn’t know why he was lingering around waiting for Dick, but he did and the raven haired teen caught him. He immediately made a bee-line for Jason, weaving around the chairs and carts and stopped right in front of him.

His lips were spread wide into a smile and his expression glowed, literally. Dick’s face was a rosy red, cheeks a tad darker than other parts of his face and he seemed excited.

“Hi!” Dick greeted gleefully.

“Hey,” Jason returned, but in a less enthusiastic tone, using just his normal vocal range.

“You came,” Dick said and Jason slowly nodded his head.

“Yeah, I did.”

“So…how was it?” Dick asked curiously and fumbled with his glasses, almost as if he was slightly nervous. Jason had noticed this the first time they spoke since it happened often during their brief encounter. He assumed it was a habit that Dick fidgeted when he was uncomfortable or anxious as he was consistently tugging or pulling at  _something_  each time a trouble expression appeared on his face.

It was kind of an adorable trait.

“It was good,” and it really was. Jason enjoyed it a lot that he actually wanted to read the book himself.

“Oh,” Dick said and blinked in surprise. “That’s—that’s good,” he said with a big smile, flashing his perfect teeth. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“Yeah, I actually did.”

Dick chuckled softly at that and wow—that was  _really_  cute. And this time, he could admit that because it was cute. His laughter was soft and filled with warmth, a delight to hear.

“Would you come again?” Dick asked and fluttered those long eyelashes in an attempt to woo him in.

And  _did it_ woo him in. “I would be interested so possibly,” Jason answered and  _Jesus Christ,_  who would have known that his smile could grow any brighter? Because it fucking did. Dick was beaming with pleasure and looked as if he could jump for joy.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Dick said, relaxed himself to a norm as he exhaled loudly, almost as if he’d realized he might have overreacted a bit. “Did you want to read the book we’re going to discuss next? We just finished the one today. Typically we assign a portion of the book to read every week before the session,” Dick added.

Jason had actually wanted to participate, but he felt a bit indecisive about it so he’d been stalling. Now that Dick offered, he felt like he could take it. If he hadn’t asked, Jason would have just left it as so.

“Sure,” Jason replied. “I’m down for that.”

“Great!” Dick exclaimed and then unbuckled his straps, slipping his backpack off and settled it on the ground. He crouched down and zipped it open, stuck a hand in and dug around for something. He pulled out a paperback book and stood back up, handed it off to Jason to take. “Here,” Dick said and gestured for Jason to take the book from him.

The jock just stared at it, perplexed at his actions. “This is…yours though?”

“It is but you can borrow it. I already finished reading it,” Dick offered, shaking the book at Jason awkwardly because he still hadn’t taken it from him.

Turquoise eyes glanced from the book to Dick and back to the book in wonder. Finally, he wrapped his fingers around the item and graciously received it from Dick.

“It’s a mystery detective type story. I think you’ll enjoy it. You were looking at mystery earlier, no?”

“Uh—“ fuck he totally got found out by that. “That was for class,” he lied and tried to remind Dick that it wasn’t for his enjoyment purposes.

“Ah,” Dick said and seemed to school himself for possibly misinterpreting when he actually didn’t. “That’s right.  _Yeah._  Well I think you’d enjoy it either way.”

“Thanks. I’ll read it.”

“We’re reading up to chapter 5 by the way.”

“Sure, can do,” Jason said and tucked the book into his own backpack as Dick slipped his back on. They were finally packed and ready to leave the school.

“Um—“ Dick interjected when Jason was about to open the door to enter the hallway. “Do you want to walk to the gates together?” He asked shyly and bit down on his lower lip.

God, the way he was acting was even making Jason blush and he had to look away for a second as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried really hard not to blush.

“Sure,” he replied because he didn’t mind it honestly.

“ _Great._ ”

The two walked the short distance from the library to the front gates, had a very nice conversation about something completely random, about food actually before they parted ways, Jason heading off to the parking lot and Dick being picked up by a damn limo.

Wait—a limo?

And then he remembered who his father was. That’s right, Dick was the adopted son of the billionaire Bruce Wayne. How could he forget about that? Probably wasn’t something he actually tended to remember since Jason kind of hated rich kids.

Though Dick didn’t act like a rich kid at all. Actually didn’t seem like a rich kid considering he wasn’t snotty or arrogant. Didn’t speak to others like he looked down on them in a condescending tone. He was fairly nice and social, had a lot of friends and was easy to speak to.

Just his wardrobe was a different matter altogether.  _Yes_ , Jason had an issue with it and maybe someday, he could help him dress better.

_Maybe._

_\-----_

From then on out, Jason ended up going to book club every Thursday. He started off observing in the back of the room, mentally joining in on their conversations, agreeing inside his mind on certain topics as well as disagreeing on others.

Gradually, he gravitated towards the members and eventually joined them in their ranks. Often sat in the back row though and only piped in here and there.

He and Dick were also getting along as well, often staying after book club had ended to discuss a few things. Well, anything really. They started off talking about books and then ventured off into their other interests.

Jason had learned that besides reading, Dick actually liked to play videos games and often did so with his younger brothers. He also enjoyed watching movies and TV series as well and a lot of the ones he watched Jason had also seen.

He was slowly learning that he and Dick had a lot in common, more so than he thought and it was kind of pleasant. Dick was fun to talk to and Jason enjoyed every moment with him. He was a constant ball of energy and brought laughter into their conversations. Not to mention he told really bad puns which Jason kind of enjoyed.

He was geeky, quirky, smart and fun. Also really  _really_  cute. With the way he smiled, always full of sunshine and his expressive blue eyes, eyes that always glowed and spoke his true emotions, something that Jason really enjoyed deciphering. His adorable laugh and the way he’d chuckle, light and warm. His freaking glasses that he sometimes wore, gave him that nerdy flare but it was just damn adorable on him. Dick’s luscious black hair that just never seemed to be tame some days and all Jason wanted to do was just run his hands through it.

And all the way down to his appearance. The teen was tall, but shorter than Jason, not significantly so but a good portion. His build was lean, but he wasn’t skinny. Far from it. He actually had a bit of muscle and when asked what he did to maintain his shape, Dick replied that he did gymnastics and he often practiced at home. Which made sense because he was actually quite fit underneath all those clothes.

Last but not least, Jason had grown to like his outfits. It was hard for him to admit at first as it offended him highly, but the more he talked to Dick and the more he saw him, his clothes just sort of grew on him. It oddly fit his personality well and it was just a special flare that Dick had. Honestly, it added to the appeal.

The most surprising thing was Jason just sort of found himself falling for Dick. He never thought he’d ever like the teen, but there was just something about him that drew Jason in. And the more he got to know him, the more he found out what it was that he was interested in Dick. Now he was just head over heels for the teen and wanted to ask him out.

But he didn’t dare, afraid that he’d be judged for it. They still didn’t interact during class however which Jason was thankful for. He didn’t want to have to deal with people asking him why he was talking to the weirdo.

Unfortunately, things couldn’t stay as it was.

\-----

Jason arrived to class early and headed straight for his seat so he could get situated. The other students were slowly filtering into the classroom after having come from their previous one. He was pulling out his textbook and supplies, prepping himself for class when someone came up to his desk and interrupted him.

He felt a shadow hang over him and lifted his eyes to meet the face of his guest.

It was Dick.

“Hey Jason,” Dick greeted with a hesitant smile as he adjusted the strap of his backpack. He was standing right in front of his desk, gazing at Jason as they locked eyes. And immediately, Jason could feel everyone’s attention on them, probably judging and wondering why Dick was talking to him so casually.

Jason sucked in a breath, felt his heart skip a beat, slowly increasing as seconds ticked by. He could feel the airway of his lungs getting clogged as the anxiety built up within his chest. He held off on answering, attempting to extend the period of silence in hopes that Dick would go away, but of course he didn’t.

“Um,“ Dick started and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear, hand trembling ever so slightly. “Can I borrow a pen? I forgot mine,” he asked in a wavering tone.

Jason was too anxious himself to see that Dick was also nervous and didn’t pipe a word and tried his best not to look around the room. He could feel everyone’s gaze on him and kept his attention focused on anything but his classmates  _and_  Dick,  _especially_ Dick. So he just stared at his desk like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“ _Um…_ Jason?” Dick tried again, voice small and Jason cringed from the slight sadness that he detected in his voice. He could tell that Dick was getting a little upset.

He huffed a breath. “I have no pen for you to borrow,” Jason hissed sharply and mentally grilled himself for saying such a thing to Dick. Not when he _liked_  him and wanted to _date_  him. Not after all the enjoyable small moments they spent together. It was, his stupid prejudice was getting in the way. His fear of being ridiculed by people who didn’t matter and the need he felt to protect himself from subjection.

“Oh…” Dick murmured, tone faltering. “I—“

“Why are you even talking to me anyways?” He added and god, why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut. Why was he embarrassing Dick in front of everyone by rejecting him?

Because Jason didn’t want to be judged.

“I—I’m—“ his breath hitched and Jason felt really bad. Felt the pit of his stomach drop, dread filling his body. “ _Sorry_ ,” he apologized, voice oh so small and quiet and fuck, that was the saddest he’d  _ever_  heard Dick.

The teen turned and walked away from his desk and settled himself in his own. Jason drew in a heavy breath and kept his eyes glued to his desk, could hear people shuffling and whispering around him.

It wasn’t until the bell rang when he snapped his head forward and found his gaze falling upon Dick. The moment his turquoise eyes registered the expression on Dick’s face, guilt struck him in the heart and he deeply regretted his actions. The raven haired teen’s cheeks were bright red and he’d slipped on his glasses, but they were slightly fogged up. Jason could clearly see tears at the corner of his eyes and he knew he was trying his best not to cry.

Fuck, Jason shouldn’t have said that. He shouldn’t have treated Dick like he was offended by him for fear of being judged. Because honestly, who gave a fuck what others thought about them? They didn’t have a say in what Jason chose to do or who he chose to associate himself with.  _None at all._

And yet because he cared about those reasons that he stated above, he did what he did and treated Dick poorly.

He’d fucked himself over and ruined their friendship that had been flourishing.

He wanted to so badly to make it up to Dick, to mend their relationship but he just didn’t have the courage to do so and left it at that.

\-----

Weeks passed by without Jason interacting with Dick. He’d skipped out on book club as well and that was really the only time they spoke.

Dick was ignoring him too, avoiding Jason as best as he could with the same amount of effort Jason was putting in. The small smiles or waves that the teen would toss at him when they happened to make eye contact were no more and Jason found himself missing that.

He’d also noticed that Dick seemed less chipper than usual, almost as if a wave of depression hit him, bringing him down. The color of his clothing had dimmed, less vibrant colors and darker shades and there seemed to be a cloud of darkness hovering above him. His mood flipped, doing a complete 180 and Jason knew he was the cause and felt awful about it.

And the stupid thing was no one around them  _cared_. No one gave a  _single_  fuck that Dick had asked him a very simple question that day.

His friends in class didn’t seem bothered by it. Just told him it was weird that Dick spoke to him out of the blue, but other than that they didn’t think anything of it. They even went so far as to add on that it would have been interesting to converse with him. Despite the fact that Dick was a bit of weirdo, no one seemed to think too badly of him. Even though they sometimes clowned on him, made fun of him which Jason would actually glare at them for and eventually defended Dick a few times when it went too far.

Though in all honesty, no one cared about what Jason did or didn’t do. Even if he was one of the  _‘popular’_  kids and captain of their all-star football team, it was just a title and a moment of fame, and though he had fans, that was just really it.

Over the past few weeks Jason had reflected on his actions, realized how wrong he’d been to react like that to Dick and knew he needed to make it up somehow. That he was being selfish and immature, being prejudice against Dick just because they were ever so slightly different but they weren’t. And it wasn’t a bad thing to be different because no one person was the same.

In summary, Jason was an asshole.

He wasn’t exactly sure how to mend the broken relationship since Dick wouldn’t give him his time. Whenever he attempted to corner him alone, Dick dodged his attacks and swiftly escaped. His ginger friend was often around him as well, acting as a guard as he glared daggers at Jason and pulled him away.

It was annoying and he just wanted to make up for his mistakes, apologize to the teen but it was hard since he couldn’t even get any time to just talk to him.

So the one option he had was to apologize to him in person at his house.

Or well, manor.

\-----

Wow. Just  _wow._

Jason was amazed at the size of the manor and stared at it in awe as he parked on the long and glorious driveway. His eyes were literally about to pop out of its sockets as he gawked, mouth ajar and just speechless. He knew Dick was rich, but  _damn_ , this was extreme. He couldn’t even see the end of the building, just the front and that was even astonishing to him.

Wayne manor was of course gated, but he’d spoken to the butler on the intercom before the gates opened up, allowing him inside. He’d parked at the front and took the long pathway up to the door. It was long and wide, reached very high up and Jason just couldn’t get over the size of it. Seriously, his house was tiny compared to this.

He found the doorbell off to the side, rang it and waited for an answer. The door clicked opened a few minutes after and there stood an old English man wearing a fitted butler suit.

“Good afternoon,” the butler, Alfred, as he introduced himself as earlier said. “It is nice to meet you Master Jason.”

Oh fuck, he’d never been called Master before. This was odd and slightly uncomfortable.

“Um, yes, hello,” he replied awkwardly, sort of wanted to correct him to just call him Jason but felt like it wouldn’t fly so he dropped it. “Dick is home?” Jason asked, got right to the chase.

“Yes, Master Dick is here. Shall I escort you to him?”

“Ah, yes please,” Jason said.

The butler gestured a hand for Jason to enter the mansion and he did. His eyes immediately took notice of the grand hallway, could see how classy and expensive it looked. There were beautiful vases and pictures that adorned the walls and table, intricate and looked quite antique.

Jason knew he was in for a large surprise as he followed the butler down the hallway.

He’d showed up unannounced, requested to see Dick because he needed to talk to him. Alfred had asked if he had an appointment which Jason said no, but moved to explain it was important and to not tell him. The butler was a bit skeptical at first, but didn’t sense any harm from Jason so allowed him inside.

They weaved through a few rooms and then finally stood at the forefront of two large double doors.

“Master Dick is in the library.”

“Ah.” Of course he would be. “Thanks,” Jason said and stood there dumbfounded, unsure of what to do.

The butler low key rolled his eyes and opened the door for him to enter. Jason took one step inside and the door closed shut behind him, locked him inside of this large library, like nothing he’d ever seen before. It was possibly bigger than one of those book stores, at least he thought it was. Either way, it definitely looked dense and it reminded him of those amazing personal libraries he’d seen in movies. The walls were filled to the brim and shelves were lined up in neat rows in the middle of the room, all housing a variety of books. Each section was also labeled, an easy way to maneuver through

Jason was in amazement and couldn’t help but gasp quietly to himself. He slipped into one of the rows, trekking along and getting lost in the vast amount of books there was to offer, completely forgetting why he was here. He was distracted from the mission he’d set out to accomplish and was pulling out books from the shelves, flipping through as he read each summary. He was so absorbed in his actions that when he heard a gentle voice echo into the enormous room, he jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion of another.

But he recognized that voice anywhere.

“Alfred?” Dick called and Jason could hear footsteps approaching him, getting closer and closer until he caught Dick standing at the end of the row.

Dick almost jumped back, blue eyes going wide in disbelief at seeing Jason standing in his library. “ _Jason?_ ” He said, voice growing a pitch higher. “You’re— _what?_ ” he furrowed his brows in confusion and was trying hard to not freak out. “What are you doing here?” He seemed a bit lost for a moment, eyes blinking rapidly until he finally gathered himself whole and strode right towards the taller teen.

Jason pushed the book back onto the shelf and turned his body to fully face the teen when he came up to him.

“Why?” He asked again and dropped his book to the ground so he could cross his arms over his chest.

“I wanted to apologize,” Jason said, getting right to it. This was what he came here for and this was what he needed to do first and foremost.

Dick just arched a brow at him and scoffed. “I don’t _need_  your apology.”

“You do,” Jason said and breathed heavily, felt a chill shudder down his spine, hands going cold from the thought of rejection. If Dick was this pissed at him than he’d royally fucked up and hurt the teen. He’d never seen him so angry before, glaring at him with those gorgeous blue eyes as if he was the enemy.

“I don’t. I—I  _heard_  you loud and clear. Obviously you don’t want to be my friend.”  
  
“I—“ Jason started but Dick cut him off.

“I thought we were friends. I thought we were…getting  _closer_. I kept my distance from you because you seemed to be wary of others. But I just thought—maybe you, _I don’t know._  I just wanted to try and it took  _a lot_  of courage to confront you in front of others. But you just went and—“ Dick was speaking quickly, words flowing out like a waterfall and he sounded so distressed, so upset that he couldn’t articulate his feelings well.

But Jason understood. He knew exactly what Dick was getting at and if he’d only known that this was how he felt, he wouldn’t have treated him like that. If he was a better person, he wouldn’t have done that, but he wasn’t.

Dick huffed, drew in a rickety breath and chewed on his bottom lip as he squeezed his arms. “I just thought it would have been okay. We were getting along and…” he trailed off into a gentle whisper, his voice blending into the tense atmosphere. It was heavy and weight down on Jason’s shoulders and he could clearly feel the emotions oozing out of the teen.

“ _I’m sorry_ ,” Jason blurted, needed to get it out in the open. “I’m  _really_ sorry,” he repeated genuinely, captured Dick’s gaze with his own to ensure that this came from the heart. That he wasn’t just saying this because he actually _truly_ felt apologetic of his actions.

Dick stayed silent, his breathing coming in short bursts and kept his blue eyes focused on Jason, staring back at him just as intensely as Jason was.

Jason took that as a sign to continue. “I was wrong. I know that what I did was not respectful and you didn’t deserve it. I hurt you and I embarrassed you because I only thought of myself. And honestly, it shouldn’t have mattered what other people thought. Me, a jock, and you, a—“ Jason said and made a hand at him, unsure what to define Dick as. He was sort of a nerd, but that just seemed like an awful term to label him as. “ _You_ ,” he went with and the corner of Dick’s lips tugged into an amused smile.

“It’s okay. You can call me a nerd.  _I am._ I know I’m weird too, but I’m quite happy and confident in myself,” Dick said and Jason breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he hadn’t offended Dick.

“You said it,” he said and Dick just smiled softly. “It was all just in my head and even though we may be different, we aren’t. We are so much more alike than I would have ever thought and we have a lot in common. I just—“ he said and paused for a moment, struggling with his emotions. Debated on whether he should just say it or not.

The clock ticked, seconds passing by and then minutes. There was an awkward silence lingering in the air where neither of them said a word. It was grating on Jason’s nerve and he grew impatient. Figuring what the hell, he just went with what his heart was telling him and took action.

“I like you,” Jason said, could feel his nerves tingling as his heart rate increased, his anxiety blooming as he confessed his utmost feelings to Dick. “I  _really_  like you and I  _want_  to date you.”

The amusement on Dick’s face quickly dimmed and was replaced by an expression full of shock. The teen’s eyes were blown wide, eyebrows raised high with his lips parted, forming a small o. His arms had fallen limply to his side as he just stood there and gawked.

“You  _what?_  You—say that again?” Dick murmured, finally able to find his voice again.

Jason only wanted to say it once and he could feel heat crawling onto his cheeks, embarrassed. He sucked in a breath and repeated it one more time.

“ _I like you._  Will you  _please_ go out with me?” Jason spoke more firmly this time and as clear as he could in case Dick claimed that he couldn’t understand him because he did not want to stay it a third. He was already mortified enough and wanted to crawl into a hole.

Dick’s face lit up and that pretty smile of his returned. “Yes,” he replied and took a step forward to close the distance between Jason. “ _Yes_ ,” he repeated and dropped his voice, a touch of sultry finding it’s way in as he pressed a hand to Jason’s chest, curled his fingers into his shirt and latched on. “ _Let’s date_. I…want to be your boyfriend,” he whispered and rolled onto his tip toes, bringing his face close to Jason’s, so close that their lips were mere centimeters from meeting, just hovering in proximity. 

Jason wasn’t sure if that meant it was okay and could only assume it was fine. He slithered an arm around Dick’s thin waist and tugged him close as the teen fell against his chest and into his arms. With all of his courage, he shortened the small distance between them and crushed their lips together into a fervent kiss.

The kiss was toxic and everything Jason had wanted. The feel of Dick’s lips were soft and warm, just slightly a little chapped and he tasted kind of sweet, almost fruity. It sent shivers down his spine, pleasure filling every inch of his body and he wanted more.

Though their kiss was a little clumsy and inexperienced as their teeth bumped against one another and Dick was giggling about it while Jason was trying very hard to not join him and continued kissing him, but the teen just made it  _so_ damn hard, so he split.

Dick was still laughing, and Jason just rolled his eyes at him, a little irritated because here he was, trying to have a sweet moment but Dick was ruining it for him.

“Dick,” Jason said frustratingly and huffed.

“I’m sorry!” Dick said and sucked in a large breath, trying to hold back his laughter and calm his snickers. “I just—I’ve never really kissed anyone before.”

And at that comment, Jason’s eyes widened at him and he had to blink a few times to rid himself of the initial strain. “Wait…are you telling me that I was your first?”

A cherry red dusted his cheeks and he shyly nodded as he ducked his head under Jason’s chin and circled his arms around Jason’s waist, embracing his  _now_  boyfriend.

“ _No shit?”_

“Yes way,” Dick sighed pleasantly and buried his face against Jason’s hoodie. “You’re my  _first kiss_ …” he murmured, voice muffled from where he was hiding.

Jason exhaled loudly, trying to let that piece of information process through his mind. It was just so shocking that it took a while for him to register the fact that he was Dick’s first kiss. It was just too fucking amazing and he was honestly jumping in joy mentally.

He was also finally able to tuck his fingers into Dick’s luscious hair, buried them deep and slowly combed it back in attempt to work out the tangles. He was having one of those messy hair days as well as another wardrobe malfunction which he didn’t actually mind anymore and today, Dick was sporting a baggy bright green sweater with worn out grey sweatpants.

But even then, he was still very cute and it was just an adorable quirk of his. And if he had known it was Dick’s first kiss, he would have done it more carefully and skillfully.

It just— _well_ , the way he approached him didn’t seem like he was that inexperienced. There was just an air of allure that he oozed when Dick slyly came up to him. Maybe he was just a natural at being seductive.

Not that Jason minded.

“Do you uh—“ Dick started, finally crawling out of his embarrassment and tilted his head back to stare at Jason as the teen glanced down to look at him. “Want to read a book with me?”

Jason smiled gently and pecked his lips in a chaste kiss. “Of course.”

The two laughed and scurried off to a corner of the library, settling in a little nest that Dick had built using blankets and pillows. Dick plopped himself in between Jason’s lap and handed him the book, pulled a blanket to cover them as they cuddled.

Jason smiled softly at his boyfriend, flipped the book open to the first page and started reading aloud, his gentle voice filling the room as Dick hummed and  _hmmed_  at every interesting scene of the book.


End file.
